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Love’s Hidden Enemy
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.
One of the
tragedies of broken relationships is that
many people fail to distinguish between
root causes and surface issues. As long as
we continue to inspect the surface and
avoid the hidden enemies of loving
relationships, we are going to continue
picking and examining fruit that is
already diseased. We may cut it off, but
it will just grow right back the same way.
When the
apostle Paul speaks of putting away
childish things and acting as mature
adults, he is revealing the secret of
rooting out the hidden enemies of love.
He says
that we need to identify our childish
thought patterns and replace them with
adult ways of thinking. One example of
childish thinking is the idea that our
acceptance is based on our performance. To
proceed on that assumption in marriage is
to insure a constant treadmill of anxiety
and greater efforts to please our spouse.
Such thinking is an enemy that needs to be
exposed and eliminated.
This
elimination process begins when we
recognize our own childish thinking and
acknowledge its role in the problems we
are facing. Blaming someone else has no
place, and besides, it never corrects the
problem. Instead, we have to purpose in
our hearts to examine our own “roots” and
expose them to God’s light. We may need
the help of a godly counselor or friend
who will speak the truth in love.
Whatever
the cost, there must be full surrender to
God’s truth and a firm commitment to let
go of childish things. In so doing, we can
have victory over love’s hidden enemies |
